12 Days
by musicgirl97
Summary: Same as Last year, one chapter to each day of the song, the song is altered to fit then show.
1. Chapter 1

These Stories are all going to be loosely based on a line from the Christmas song 'Twelve days of Christmas', however the lines will all be changed to fit thing on the show and will be based on Danny. Each story will be a day leading up to Christmas Day at Leopards Den. So I hope like these semi-Christmassy stories.

And as a bit of background info: Rosie and Dylan (hold onto your knickers RAX fans all will be made well) are married and Dup is alive and Ed Still lives at Mara but there is no Fiona, and it's Christmas at Leopards Den.

**On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.**

**On the first day of Christmas my best friend showed to me a vulture in a pear tree.**

Alice sat in a chair on the veranda, her hand on her massively bloated stomach. It was Christmas in twelve days and Alice smiled at all the work everyone had put in. Danny and Dup had spent ages on ladders putting up the fairy lights around the perimeter of the house so that at night they could look at the lights that flashed white green and red.

Nomsa, Caroline and Bobbie had decorated the Christmas tree inside, Bobbie doing the under layers that he could reach with most of the decorations, leaving the top half of the tree reasonably bare. Charlie and Liv had put little trees in the guest huts and in the surgery. They had decorated the house in Tinsel, wrapping it around trees, posts, the 'Leopards Den' sign and everything else they could find. They had even put a big red bow on Cassidy, much to his disgust, he had run as fast as he could on his three legs to get away from them when they tried to catch him, but he could not run fast enough. So now their resident male Cheetah and family pet was wearing a bright red bow.

Rosie, Ed and Danny had looked after all of the animals, and in the past few days there had been a lot. Alice had been the only one not to do anything this Christmas, except sit and watch, much to her dismay. Due to her current condition and the fact that she was due any day now she was confined to the chairs on the veranda all day every day. If she so much as lifted a finger she would get in trouble from all of the girls in the house, who would then refer her to the men of the house, namely Danny he would try his hardest to convince her to stay put, but it would not last long. She would only do it again and again.

As she sat there thinking about all of these things, Dup walked past and stopped just in front of her. 'Alice have you seen Trevanion, I have a problem with a vulture.' He said. Alice looked at him, it was her chance to get out of this chair.

'I don't know but if you want I can have a look if you just help me down there…' she started, it was a long shot but worth a try. Danny walk out of the door before she could finish.

'No Alice, its ok. I am here and you can stay there,' Danny said as he passed Alice a cup of water with some ice in it. 'Got to make sure you are ok and are hydrated so drink up.' He said it as he gave his wife the glass and a big cheesy grin. 'Drink up, I'll see you soon.'

Alice half groaned half smiled as they walked away. If she drank that, in 30 minutes she was going to need to go to the bathroom…again. Then again that would give her the excuse to get up. Danny while so caring, reminded her of a little child with his best friend when he was with Dup.

[X]

'So what seems to be the problem then Dup?' Danny asked. He looked around; Leopards Den was thriving and was alive with the buzz for Christmas.

'There is a vulture.' Dup said as he turned o Danny. As he did he saw his best mate try to hide a smile. 'It's not funny Trevanion; this is not any old vulture.' Dup said, frustrated by Danny's lack of response to his crisis.

'Dup, Leopards Den is full of vultures, Rosie release a few just the other day' Danny looked at Dup, but he was still not convinced.

Just follow me Trevanion, and then you will understand.'

Moments later Danny and Dup arrived at a tree, or to be more specific a dead tree. It was broken in half, and half of it was lying horizontally across the ground. On the trunk of the dead tree was a Vulture, just a plain ordinary vulture sitting in a dead tree.

'So what seems to be the problem? It looks perfectly healthy to me.' Danny said, 'I don't get what all this fuss is about.'

Dup just looked at him, then the vulture and then back at Danny, 'Don't you recognise him?'

Danny laughed. 'Dup, there are plenty of vultures out there, how would I recognise an individual one? If it's a vulture I know, which it isn't I don't recognise it.'

'But Danny, look at him, look closely, its Peeters.' Dup said, almost a complaint at Danny's ignorant remark.

'Are you sure, Dup, I mean how do you remember what Peeters looks lke? We have not lived at Clear water for atleast four years. Have you seen Peeters between then and now?' he asked. He looked at Dup, who had a stubborn look of certainty in his eyes as he stared back at Danny.

'Trevanion, look at him, I know it is Peeters. Besides, he followed me everywhere and I have seen him every now and again.' Dup said. 'He must have followed us when we moved back to Leopards Den.' Dup said. There was a small amount of sentiment in his voice as he looked at the vulture that had caused him a lot of trouble. Dup took a step towards Peeters. 'Is that you old pal?' he said as he talked to the vulture.

The vulture squawked and flapped his wings as if to say 'Yes'

Danny then did the same double take as a Dup did earlier before speaking to his mad best friend. 'Well Dup, I must say I have seen some strange things in my time, but this comes close to the top. What now?'

Dup just laughed. 'Nothing my friend, I just wanted to make sure he was ok.' He looked at the Vulture and then turned around and began to walk back to the house, leaving Danny standing there by himself.

As Danny followed Dup back to the house we mentally went through all of his lists for the day. He checked off everything and realised that he had nothing left to do today it was time for him to do Christmas shopping for everyone, but first he had to tell Alice about Peeters, the vulture in the dead tree.

And there you have it, Different form Last year, they are all being edited but I don't feel like I can write the same way that I could before…I don't know, I'm just not feeling it but I figured I might as well upload anyway…:)


	2. Chapter 2

**On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, two turtle doves…**

** On the second day of Christmas my true love showed to me, two lion cubs…**

Danny stood in front of the mirror, millions of tiny little thoughts rushing through his mind. In the past few months his life had been so busy that he had barely had time to stop and smell the roses. It was Christmas in just a few short days and they would have family arriving soon, Alice was due to have the baby in the next few days and Danny was playing midwife to a Lioness.

As he walked out of the house he noticed Alice standing on the front porch. He bludging belly was sticking out; and she was wearing one of his shirts again. 'Is that my shirt?' Danny asked.

Alice turned to him, only just noticing that he was there. 'Yeah, Sorry Mr Trevanion, all of mine are too small.' She said as she picked up the sides of Danny's button down shirt and wrapped around her stomach. 'Looks like yours are too.' She said as she looked up at him and into his eyes, they were gleaming with happiness as he moved his hand to her stomach.

Every morning he said hello to their baby, sometimes even playing with it, playfully punching her stomach and this morning was no exception. As he stood up he looked up at her. 'BT said they are doing well, and that they can't wait to get out and meet us.' Danny stood up. When they had learned that Alice was pregnant, they had decided to not find out if it was a boy or girl. At first Danny had called the baby Trevanion and then shortened it to BT.

Alice smiled. 'To be honest I have loved begin pregnant but I want them out, it's getting uncomfortable. Oh and Danny, just so we are clear, six kids is enough, no more after BT is born.'

Danny just nodded. 'Anyway I have to go and check the Lioness.'

'Can I come? Danny, please I need to leave the house.' Alice pleaded with her husband, not enjoying the house arrest. She gave him the cutest puppy dog eyes that she could, muster, battered her eyes and made a cute face.

It worked! Danny crumbled, 'Fine, you can come, but only if you are careful.' Alice smiled at Danny as he extended his hand to her to help her down the stairs.

As they walked down to the animal hospital Danny kept his hand in Alice's, despite the fact it was no longer needed he still kept hold of her, keeping the one he loved close at all times.

Danny opened the door for his wife as they walked into the clinic. When they stepped in they hear the soft prowls of the lioness. Alice and Danny looked at each other as they rushed as fast as physically possibly to the side of the Lioness. When they rounded the corner both Danny and Alice were surprised to find two lion cubs with the lioness. Danny looked at Alice and went to grab the anaesthetic. They needed to get in there and check out the cubs and they were not going to be able to do that unless that lioness was full of drugs.

A few minutes later Danny and Alice were standing in the lioness's pen, each with a cub in their arms. They now had two new lions at Leopards Den, a boy and a girl. They both seemed perfectly healthy, a relief to Danny and Alice.

Danny turned to Alice. 'I have a surprise for you, I found it and I was going to take bring it up to the house for you but since you are here well…'

Alice cut him off. 'You know Danny you are a cheeky boy.' She said as she looked up to see the mistletoe she was standing under with her husband and two lion cubs.

Well, I hope you like it. It was slightly more Christmassy and Christmas is the time for romance so I chucked in some mistletoe. Which means now we have two lion cubs and a vulture in a dead tree, what will happen next?

And thanks to the guest reviewer, it was nice to get a review so fast, and of course to the other reviewers.


	3. Chapter 3

**On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three French hens…**

**On the third day of Christmas my daughter showed to me three dirty pens…**

It seemed that the days were growing longer and longer each day. With Alice expecting and Christmas coming along there was much to do and it seemed like nothing could be done at a speed that was fast enough.

Rosie was in the surgery when Ed stuck his head in the door 'Rosie, I could really us your help over at Mara.' He said, before turning away, Rosie following.

'I don't suppose you could tell me what it is I am helping you with?' She questioned as she got in the jeep beside him.

'Zebra caught in a snare, we need to get over there quickly.' He said as he drove off into the distance. She nodded and took hold of the rail in front of her.

[x]

When they got to the Zebra it was pulling itself around trying to escape from snare.

'You take the shot, your better than me.'

Rosie smiled and took the dart gun, took her aim, fired and then ran to the side of the Zebra with Ed close behind. Ed went to work cutting the wire while Rosie administerd some antibiotics to prevent infection at snare wound on the leg.

When Ed was finished with the wire he cleaned the wound and administerd the reversal agent to get the zebra back on its feet as soon as possible, as it was not safe for a zebra to be on the ground for too long. After a few seconds the zebra was on its feet and running off to find its herd.

'Well done Rosie, I'll drop you back at Leopards Den.' He said as he packed up his vet box and walked back to the car leaving Rosie standing there on her own.

[x]

Later that day Danny walked into the surgery where Rosie was now working again.

She looked at him when he walked in and then she went back to her work, work that seemed to be unchanging in each day.

Danny however was not here to work, he was here to inspect how things we moving down here, wanting everything to be perfect for Christmas. 'Rosie, I asked you to clean these pens days ago now.'

'Oh sorry dad it's just that I have been really busy, with Dylan and Ed, had to help him again at Mara.' she said an honest account of her last few days.

Dylan had been a love of hers for a few years now, but she was finding that she was having to put more effort into the relationship that she ever had to with Max.

Danny sighed, not fully understanding what she was going through. 'Well then if you have a spare moment I could really use some help cleaning these three dirty pens before some poor needy animal needs them.'

She looked at him and smiled, it was one relationship that took no effort, like father like daughter they got each other. It was just a pity that she had to clean those Pens.


	4. Chapter 4

**On the Fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four calling birds…**

**On the Fourth day of Christmas my daughter showed to me four Vet nerds…**

Charlotte walked in the front door, it was her last day of school today and she had one question playing on her mind. It had been in class and the topic of careers had come up. The teacher asked them all to start thinking about what they might like to do when they were older, but Charlie had no idea.

She thought that maybe she would be a Vet like her mum, but there were other things that she would rather do. She loved to sing and play the piano, she thought that she might like to do something with music when she left school, but she really didn't know because she had never thought much about it.

Danny walked into the kitchen, where Charlie was now standing and he saw her looking blankly at the table. 'Charlie are you alright?'

Snapping her back to reality Charlotte realised that someone was talking to her. She threw he bag on the ground and sat down at the table. 'Danny I don't know what to do when I get older.' She said in a huff.

Danny looked at her, he had thought that this conversation might come, and he had to remember that Charlie wasn't the eight year old girl that came to live with him eight years ago, she was sixteen now and he had to remember that she was growing up.

'Well Charlie what do you want to do?' Danny asked.

Charlie just shrugged. 'I don't really know Danny, that's the thing, I don't want to be a vet, there are too many of them here and I don't want to do something boring.' She said with a slight bit of attitude.

Dup was now standing that the door, and thought it would be the perfect time to alert the father daughter of his presence. 'Wise decision Charlie, there are already four vet nerds here. Five would just be a crowd.' He said, chuckling to himself when he saw the look on Danny's face. 'Don't you worry too much about what you wanna do Charlie, you still have time to make up your mind. Now, you can come with me into the bush, or you can stay here and do something, but don't worry about school stuff until after Christmas.'

Danny smiled, though he could give the sane advice, Dup always knew the right words to say to people. Though often they were useless and didn't answer the question he still knew what to say.

'Let Danny get to his nerdy Vet wife for a while, or his nerdy vet daughter, or his nerdy vet partner, there are just to many in this house. Charlotte Collins Trevanion, I forbid you to be a vet, leopards Den doesn't need anymore.' He said before he walked out of the room,

Danny just laughed. 'Don't listen to him, it's just because we are all smarter than him.'

'I heard that.' Was heard from the living room and Danny and Charlotte laughed.

'You know what, he is right, I will worry about it after Christmas.'


	5. Chapter 5

**One the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Five Gold Rings…**

**One the fifth day of Christmas my daughter showed to me Five Nasty Stings…**

Rosie looked at her arms. Staying in the guest tents was what she did every Christmas as lots of people came to stay at Leopards Den. It was not physically possible for the house to accommodate all so each individual took a spare hut.

But this year Rosie was sure that she had drawn the short straw, she was convinced her cabin had lice. She had five nasty stings on her arms and many more all over her body and she was sure that Dylan would have the same.

He was gone already. It was early in the morning and once again he had disappeared. It was probably nothing to worry about, just a stage in their marriage but she was beginning to have second thoughts about Dylan. She was worried that they were drifting apart and that she was going to have a repeat with Dylan of what happened with Max.

She sighed, Max. It was someone she had not thought of in a while. Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if they had stayed together, if they had not lost their baby, if she had gotten pregnant again.

It all made her curious but she would never know now. She had not seen Max since the divorce and she missed him. She loved Dylan but not in the way that she had loved Max. Her heart hurt when she and Max broke up, but now that Dylan seemed to be drifting away from her she didn't feel that upset. It felt more like losing a friend that losing a husband.

The best thing for her would be to try and get it off her mind, an adventure into the bush with Liv and she would forget everything that was going on, including Max, it wasn't wise to think about what she would never have.

As Rosie walked up to the house she cautiously looked to see if she could see her husband, but as she suspected he was nowhere to be found.

But she did see Danny, her father and she stopped him to talk to him about the Lice to see if she could get the necessary items to fix her dilemma. 'Dad, I think my tent has lice.'

'Oh well, why not move in the house for a few days while we fix it, the other guests don't arrive for another few days and yours can be clean by then. But there is only one bed and it's a single bed.'

'That's fine Dylan can sleep on the couch.' She said, hoping the topic would change soon.

'Is everything ok with you and Dylan?' her father asked. Rosie didn't really want answer that, but she knew her dad was protective and he would be persistent.

'It's just that I don't see him that much anymore and I don't really think he loves me that much anymore.' She sighed.

'But do you still love him?' He asked, forcing Rosie to tell the truth.

'To be honest, I don't think I do. We are drifting apart and I feel like no matter what I do it just doesn't work, I mean I don't even know where he is, he didn't tell me where he was going.'

Danny moved his hand to hers and pulled her into a fatherly hug. She was almost crying now and he decided to change the subject and move back to the original conversation.

'Common then, let's go and fix up your tent and then fix those little bites on your arms.'


	6. Chapter 6

**One the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me six geese a-laying…**

**One the sixth day of Christmas my true love showed to me six guests a staying…**

Alice walked into the kitchen to see nothing. No Danny, no Dup, not Charlie, not even Nomsa. She knew where they all were, she just wished that she had been able to go with them.

Today was the day that the rest of the guests arrived at Leopards Den and Alice had been left behind while the others drove to get them.

When she had asked if she could go everyone had protested. 'Absolutely not.' Danny had exclaimed, 'It's going to be a bumpy journey' Dup had seconded. Caroline then said 'It could induce the labour.'

Alice had interrupted them then and said 'Please, then let me come. I want BT out!' She cried, but more people had protests.

'You don't want to have a baby in the back of a Jeep Alice.' Liv had said and then Nomsa nodded in agreement. For someone who spoke little, it seemed to be that it was Nomsa's look that had the most effect on Alice. She was so kind hearted and she had looked after Alice so much since she came and especially in her pregnancy, that when Nomsa shook her head Alice knew she could never go against her wishes.

So she stood in the kitchen on her own, waiting for the sound of the Jeep.

She waited for what seemed like forever, and with only Cassidy for company time seemed to stand still. But eventually she head the sound of the trucks pulling up to the house.

She smiled to herself, she had missed so many of the people who were there and she could not wait to see them, the only problem was that in her current state if she walked outside she was likely to be murdered by Dup and Danny.

So instead she wobbled her way into the living room and sat down on one of the chairs, waiting for them all to come inside.

She heard him first, from the moment she met him she had liked him. A hurt boy who grew into a man. Evan only visited at Christmas time and Alice was so excited that he would be here for the next few weeks, meaning he would be able to meet his little brother or sister.

He ran around the corner and she stood up to hug her step son. She wished he still lived in Africa, but he had a life in the UK.

By now the others were also in the room, sitting on the couches, leaning on the door frames, even sitting on the floor.

Besides the usual inhabitants of Leopards Den; Danny, Dup, Caroline, Nomsa, Charlotte, Liv, Bobby, and more often than not Fatani, there were now many others.

Rosie was also in the room and Dylan, like always was not present, he often disappeared during the day, Alice wondered if he even came home at night. She knew something was up, her mother senses were tingling. She just hoped that it didn't involve Rosie getting hurt.

Also in the room was Evan's girlfriend, who for the first time since they began dating two years ago had come to Africa. Her name was Sophie and she was a pretty girl with Chocolate Brown hair and big blue eyes. Alice smiled, she hoped that they would be very happy.

The other two of the six guests staying at Leopards Den this Christmas were old friends of the family and oddly enough ex partners of Alice's step daughters. One of them was Max, who came every year. Rosie and Max seemed comfortable enough with each other, though they only ever saw each other one week in every year.

The last person was Thabo, Olivia's ex-boyfriend. After Liv and Fatani had gotten together it had taken a while for Liv and Thabo to become friends again but eventually it had happened. Alice was fairly certain that Fatani didn't like it but he didn't really have a choice, and Liv would never do something wrong by Fatani, she just wasn't that kind of person.

Danny came over to Alice, 'this is all the guests then, not long till Christmas' he said then leant down to whisper into her ear. 'Hopefully BT comes soon to meet us all.'

Alice winced, as she felt a small pain in her abdomen. 'It might be sooner than you think' she whispered back as she got up and walked out of the room.

Do I even make sense? I feel like my words just don't fit, don't work…I just really am not feeling it, but I am determined to finish this story, even if it's the last one I do…


	7. Chapter 7

**One the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me seven swans a swimming…**

**One the seventh day of Christmas my true love showed to me seven different siblings…**

It was a brand new day and Danny had a brand new girl. Yesterday BT had decided that they wanted to get out and see the world, meet him and his wife, but it was not until the early hours of the next day when she finally got to meet her parents.

Now, both Alice and their new Daughter were sleeping and they needed all the beauty sleep they could get, it had been a long and complicated few hours for them both.

But even though he was tired, Danny stood guard, making sure that no one could harm his wife or his little girl, make sure that no one would be able hurt them ever.

This was the Last baby that Danny had, at least he thought. Like bobby, BT had not been planned, but he loved her already just the same. She was daddy's fourth little girl, and he loved her as much as all of his other children.

[x]

A few hours later, but still only early in the morning Rosie, Evan, Liv, Charlotte and Bobby all arrived at the hospital to meet their little sister. Rosie, the oldest of the children, from Danny's first wife ushered her younger brothers and sisters into the hospital, something that a commanding officer would have been proud of.

When they reached Alice's room, they all quietly moved into the room, so that in age order they were standing around the bed looking at their new sister.

Rosie, Liv and Charlotte all had tears in their eyes and Evan was smiling. Bobby however just looked a little bit confused. 'Mummy, who is that?' He asked her, not understanding where the baby had come from.

'This is your new sister.' Alice said as she turned the baby around so that everyone could see her.

'So out with it then, what is her name?' Liv asked, 'That is assuming that you have decided on a name.'

Danny looked at Alice and she nodded. 'We have Liv as a matter a fact. Welcome to the family Holly Francesca Collins Trevanion.' He said looking at his wife and daughter.

'Six kids, seven if you include Dylan as a son in law, PLEASE tell me Danny that this is the end.' Evan said, as the second oldest of Danny's children.

Alice looked at her husband and they both nodded their heads. 'Danny, I was wondering if you could all give Rosie and me a minute.'

Danny nodded and escorted his crew out the door, assured that Rosie would be a perfect substitute for watching Alice and Holly. When the door was shut Alice turned to Rosie. 'So, where is Dylan?' She asked, blunt and straight to the point because Rosie was not stupid.

'To be totally honest Alice, I don't know nor do I care.' She said.

Alice's brow moved just a little bit higher, the way it always did when she was thinking. She was trying to work out what she was going to say to Rosie but she didn't have to, Rosie continued.

'I don't really think I love him anymore, to be honest I don't think I ever did love him properly. I never see him anymore and I don't think he loves me. Over these past few weeks and days I have been considering a permanent separation, but I don't want to put Dad through that again.'

'Does some of this have to do with Max?' Alice asked, thinking about what Rosie had just said.

'Partially, I think he just made me realise it. The way Dylan is did not start when we came for Christmas it started long before that. That's why I think we need to get a divorce, I think for him there might be someone else.' Rosie said, though she did not look too troubled by it.

'Does that not bother you?' Alice asked.

Rosie shook her head. 'If there is then I can easily divorce him, it's not like I am going to miss him, the past few nights he hasn't even come home, for all I know he could be back at home.' She said.

Alice nodded. 'Well Rosie, whatever you do Danny, and I will support you.' She said. 'Now, we better let them back in before Danny has a heart attack.'

Rosie walked to the door, opening it then almost being knocked over in a stampede back into the room.

'Can I hold her?' Evan cried.

Everyone else in the room laughed. They were a troop, a crew, a big happy family.


	8. Chapter 8

This is a sad time for me, NO MATTER WHAT I do I just can't seem to write the next chapter!

I have don't it again and once again I will not be able to finish this story, this year. maybe next year. Its hard to find things for them to do that would fit with the song, so perhaps in a years time it will be fuller, and I will be able to write about it.

But I have some one shots or short stories in the thought process they have taken over my mind, some for this fandom, some not, so alas I will be back soon hopefully *tongue sticking out, crossed fingers in concentration*

But I just wanted to say thanks to wildatheartfan. You were what inspired me to continue when I thought that I was going know where.

And to everyone who has reviewed this,

thanks from the bottom of my heart xox musicgirl97


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